Tag Day, Figs and Grazing Guinea Pigs

A few weeks ago I signed up for a tag game. A writerly one. It invites to committing to one’s work, committing to just one thing and getting it done… you still here? I’d be lost by now, you see, because that’s not really me, the one thing at a time person. But I believe that everything that we come across shapes us in ways that may or may not be evident right away and there’s something to learn.

I was supposed to answer ten questions about my WIP (work in progress). Of course there’s articles, querie, short stories and a couple of big chunky writing projects in the mill as we speak, but the chosen one is the one that has priority. So here we go:

1. What is the working title of your book?
The working title of my book is “Baby Chicks and Brick Walls.”2. Where did the idea come from for the book?
The idea came from the fact that one too many people thought my childhood in a communist country was a gloomy one, and that is not entirely true. I was protected by my parents from experiencing the bad things many knew about, there were a lot of good things I remember and I would like to make them known to the world as they happened.3. What genre does your book fall under?
Definitely a memoir.
4. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
Tough one. It would have to be a child I guess, can’t name one just yet.5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
There were brick walls that look stern and gentle at the same time, there was laughter and sudden silence; a world like no other, a child’s upbringing in a communist country is a song that’s worth humming every now and then, for learning from, for wondering at and for knowing what it means to make the best of it.6. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
I’d like to believe someone will find it interesting enough, not ready to head towards self-publishing yet.7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
It’s still a work in progress but the first chapter trickled out in one blessed night when I knew I had to write this book.8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Perhaps “Under a Red Sky” by Haya Leah Molnar, but this one is set during an earlier time.9. Who or What inspired you to write this book?
The fact that my family, both my mom’s and my dad’s side suffered tremendously because of the communists yet they protected us children in a way that has to be written about. Also, because the child that lived back then still has a question: why wasn’t anyone saying it as it was and raising awareness about the dreadful things that were happening in communist Romania?10. What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
My book will paint the landscape of those days (the 70’s, the 80’s) from a child’s point of view, but it will also offer glimpses into the social and political setting of the times when very little detail perspired to the outside world and the image presented by the communists showed everything in bright colors. When things started deteriorating just before the revolution those colors were everything but bright. I believe there is a story worth telling.

On my way to the neighborhood grocery store I was offered fresh figs. If you’ve never tried them, please do, I am addicted, no question about it. Can’t think of a better way to ease my anxiety about putting the answers up. Like I said, things that shape us. Now the bowl of figs is almost done with, questions are done, I will head out to check on our two grazing guinea pigs who are getting closer each day to their wild roots given the freedom to roam. Just another day. Beach time. Tag, you’re it?

Thank you so much, Graciela. Oh, the bumps in the road… They are definitely there. One step at a time, one page rather. Nothing that’s worth something comes without sweating and overcoming challenges :-).